Johan Vilhelm Aubert (7 June 1922 – 19 July 1988) was an influential
Norwegian sociologist. He was a professor at the
Faculty of Law, University of Oslo from 1963 to 1971 and at the
Department of Sociology from 1971 to 1988. He co-founded the
Norwegian Institute for Social Research
The Norwegian Institute for Social Research ( no, Institutt for samfunnsforskning, ISF) is a private social science research institute based in Oslo, Norway.
It was founded in 1950 by Vilhelm Aubert, Arne Næss, Eirik Rinde, and Stein Rokkan
...
already in 1950, and has been labelled the "
father of
Often, discoveries and innovations are the work of multiple people, resulting from continual improvements over time. However, certain individuals are remembered for making significant contributions to the birth or development of a field or tech ...
Norwegian sociology". In his early life he was a member of the
anti-Nazi resistance group
XU, and while later involved on the radical wing of the
Labour Party, he edited the newspaper ''
Orientering''.
Early career
Vilhelm Aubert was born in
Kristiania
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population o ...
in 1922.
He was the older brother of mathematician
Karl Egil Aubert
Karl Egil Aubert (19 August 1924 – 21 October 1990) was a Norwegian mathematician.
Karl Aubert was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was the brother of sociologist Vilhelm Aubert.
He studied at the University of Oslo and took his ...
, born 1924.
Vilhelm Aubert enrolled at the
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...
in 1940, the same year as Norway was
invaded by Germany as a part of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. Aubert became a member of the
illegal intelligence organization
XU.
[
Aubert finally graduated with the cand.jur. degree in 1946. He then lived in the United States for two years, studying ]sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...
and psychology
Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...
at Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...
and Berkeley.[ After returning to Norway, he was instrumental in the foundation and consolidation of ]social science
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of s ...
research in Norway, a still fledgling field. He was a joint founder of the Norwegian Institute for Social Research
The Norwegian Institute for Social Research ( no, Institutt for samfunnsforskning, ISF) is a private social science research institute based in Oslo, Norway.
It was founded in 1950 by Vilhelm Aubert, Arne Næss, Eirik Rinde, and Stein Rokkan
...
(ISF, or ''Institutt for samfunnsforsking''), an independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independe ...
research institute
A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...
in Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
, along with Arne Næss
Arne Dekke Eide Næss (; 27 January 1912 – 12 January 2009) was a Norwegian philosopher who coined the term "deep ecology", an important intellectual and inspirational figure within the environmental movement of the late twentieth century ...
, Eirik Rinde Erik Rinde (17 March 1919 – 28 May 1994) was a Norwegian jurist who became a pioneer of social sciences in Norway.
The social sciences witnessed an impetus worldwide after the end of World War II, but were little developed in Norway. From 1946 a ...
, and Stein Rokkan
Stein Rokkan (July 4, 1921 – July 22, 1979) was a Norwegian political scientist and sociologist. He was the first professor of sociology at the University of Bergen and a principal founder of the discipline of comparative politics. He foun ...
in 1950.
Aubert was a member of the Labour Party in his younger days. Situated on its left wing, he co-published the pamphlet ''Tenk en gang til. Tanker om fred og nedrustning'' in 1952, and was among the founders of the newspaper '' Orientering''. He was the editor-in-chief of the newspaper for some time. The persons in and around this newspaper were excluded from the Labour Party in 1960,[ following a turbulent existence as an internal party opposition, especially in foreign policy issues. Some of the excluded members went on to found the Socialist People's Party, whereas Aubert left partisan politics to concentrate on an academic career.][ However, he continued his opposition towards nuclear arms.][
]
Later career
He took the doctor's degree in 1954, with the thesis ''Straffens sosiale funksjon'' (The Social Function of Punishment), which was also selected for the Norwegian Sociology Canon The Norwegian Sociology Canon ( no, Norsk sosiologisk kanon) is an award presented from 2009 to 2011 to 25 nonfiction texts that are considered to have had the greatest influence on sociology in Norway. The list of works was published in the journal ...
in 2009–2011. In it, he discussed the preventive nature of laws and punishment.[ In the same year he was hired as a lecturer at the ]University of Oslo
The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...
.[ He was promoted to professor of the ]sociology of law
The sociology of law (legal sociology, or law and society) is often described as a sub-discipline of sociology or an interdisciplinary approach within legal studies. Some see sociology of law as belonging "necessarily" to the field of sociology, ...
in 1963.[ This institution was, and still is, a part of the Faculty of Law.][ Books in the field of sociology of law include ''Likhet og rett'' (1963), ''Rettssosiologi'' (1968) and ''Rettens sosiale funksjon'' (1976).][ ''Continuity and Development in Law and Society'' was published posthumously in 1989.][
He later moved to the Department of Sociology at the Faculty of Social Sciences at ]Blindern
Blindern is the main campus of the University of Oslo, located in Nordre Aker in Oslo, Norway.
Campus
Most of the departments of the University of Oslo are located at Blindern; other, smaller campuses include Sentrum (law), Gaustad (medicine), ...
, as a professorship in general sociology was established in 1971. His textbook ''Sosiologi'', published in 1964, was the authoritative introduction to sociology in Norway for many years. His book ''The Hidden Society'' from 1965 was inspired by symbolic interactionism
Symbolic interactionism is a sociological theory that develops from practical considerations and alludes to particular effects of communication and interaction in people to make images and normal implications, for deduction and correspondence ...
and the Chicago school.[
]
Death and legacy
Aubert died in July 1988 during a hiking trip.[
He held an ]honorary degree
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad h ...
at the Faculty of Law of the University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...
, issued in 1971.[ He has been credited for his contributions to the sociology of law, and some have labelled him the "]father of
Often, discoveries and innovations are the work of multiple people, resulting from continual improvements over time. However, certain individuals are remembered for making significant contributions to the birth or development of a field or tech ...
Norwegian sociology" in general.[
Later researchers have noted his tendency to stress the importance of norms. He has been criticized for maintaining a thin line between research and activism in some of his works.] Aubert's employment of action research
Action research is a philosophy and methodology of research generally applied in the social sciences. It seeks transformative change through the simultaneous process of taking action and doing research, which are linked together by critical refl ...
has been attributed to his left-wing political stance.[
]
See also
* Sociology of law
The sociology of law (legal sociology, or law and society) is often described as a sub-discipline of sociology or an interdisciplinary approach within legal studies. Some see sociology of law as belonging "necessarily" to the field of sociology, ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aubert, Vilhelm
1922 births
1988 deaths
Norwegian newspaper editors
Norwegian sociologists
University of Oslo alumni
Academics of the Faculty of Law, University of Oslo
XU
Sociologists of law
20th-century Norwegian writers
Norwegian resistance members
d'Aubert family